No matter the weather, they still get together
Nearly 24 years and counting
by Marlo Benning
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| A photo from the past of the card club family who has been meeting for the last 24 years-the late Elvin Seward, Dave and Marilyn Kramer, Wesley and Myrtle Holt, Harold and Carol Kramer, Denny and Karen Beach and Kenny and June Holt. (Corliss Seward is not pictured, she's behind the camera.) |
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" are the words that refer to the ancient courier service of the Persian Empire.
They could also describe the way the members of a local card club feel about making it to their monthly card playing evening. Very few reasons keep them away.
Karen Beach of Eagle Bend recalls a night when they had to drive over a snow-packed fence to make it to an evening's card club destination.
When they first started their club they would meet year round, so they experienced all sorts of weather when driving to play cards.
"There were not too many cancellations," said Corliss Seward, "We had to play cards!"
This close knit group of friends has been contemplating what to do with the cards they are dealt since a New Year's Eve party in 1963. That's when the idea to meet monthly to play cards was established.
Little did they know at that time how addicting it would become and the impact it would make on each family's lives.
Seward said, "We were all hard up as church mice and had three or four kids each when we began playing. That was the good 'ole days."
In the early years, the couples would bring their children along, said June Holt.
"There were kids sleeping all over the place," Holt said.
It was cheap entertainment for the young couples who at that time in their lives couldn't afford babysitters.
It was a good thing, these moms would agree, because lifetime friendships formed amongst the couple's children that tagged along. They shared a bond and were friends throughout their school years.
"If you'd see one of them, you'd see the whole bunch," Seward said.
A marriage even resulted out of the group of friends. Elvin and Corliss Seward's son, Rick, and Kenny and June Holt's daughter, Patty, eventually were married.
"When they clicked together we thought they were just friends, but we didn't know he had other things in mind," Seward said with a grin.
The group which included Wesley and Myrtle Holt, Kenny and June Holt, Harold and Carol Kramer, Dave and Marilyn Kramer, Denny and Karen Beach and Elvin and Corliss Seward spent much more time together than just playing their usual game of ten point smear.
There have been other members that have come and gone, but this core group has been together the longest.
They all got along so well that they spent many special occasions together. It was a given that Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day would constitute a picnic. And, don't forget the volleyball! The game was a must for the children.
Canoe trips in the summertime and snowmobiling in the winter were other activities they took part in as a group.
The couples also traveled to Branson, Missouri in 2002 and reportedly had a great time. Unfortunately, it was without Harold and Carol Kramer. Carol had passed away a few years before the trip. Elvin Seward has recently passed on as well.
"It's pretty unique that we've stayed together for so long," said Holt of their friendships.
So far two "card club" reunions have taken place to bring the entire group, along with their children, together to relive old times and catch up on life.
As far as their card playing, for the most part it is a very light, joking atmosphere that surrounds the table. A lot of visiting goes on before, during and after playing, and, of course, there is always something good to eat!
Holt described the group as very easy going.
"We could say anything and no one took offense. We could give our opinion. We all still came back no matter what!" Holt said.
"We've always gotten along so well. We've all had ups and downs in our lives," said Seward, "We've always been able to count one each other."
And so they continue to meet each month, taking turns at one another's homes to enjoy the camaraderie that they have come to love. Even though two of the couples have moved to Long Prairie and Harold Kramer now lives in Vining, they are devoted to their monthly gatherings.
Many in the group are relatives in one way or another as may be guessed by their common last names, but they seem to be friends first and foremost.
They don't care (too much) if they win or lose after the cards are put to rest and the high and low prizes have been doled out for the evening. What they do embrace, though, is the people around the table that they can count on to be their friends through thick and thin. Beach said that they hope to continue to meet as long as they are able.
"I'm sure we'll go until we can't anymore. It's pretty much our only entertainment," Beach said, laughing.